The Weapon
by The Horsey
Summary: A story about work that Sirius and James did for the Order. Takes place in the hills of Ireland and has Sirius and James battling an elite group of Death Eaters. New chapter added!
1. Chapter 1

-1Hello fellow authors and Potter fans, The Horsey welcomes you to his first fan fic. I've wanted to be an author on thissite ever since my friend Silverlocke980 told me about it and I read some of his stuff. Now that I finally have a computer, I can start writing fan fics. I had this cool idea in my head for a Potter fan fic about James and Sirius's work for the Order Of The Phoenix for a while so I figured I may as well post it as my first story. Please read and review this story so I'll know whether or not to keep going with it. Thanks for your time.

The Weapon

Remote forest location in Ireland, 8:30 p.m

All was calm as two trench coated figures with black hair stepped into a small pub at the base of a range of hills. These two were the only patrons at the bar that night, the bar keep was all alone. There could not be a more perfect time for the two of them to be here. One of the men went and sat down at a table at an angle to the bar, the other went to order drinks.

" Hello," the man said to the bar keep, " two beers please." The bar keep grunted in recognition and set to rummaging about for some glasses. " Get much business around here," the trench coated man continued.

" Nuff to get me by," the bar tender grunted. He was a very ugly man. Half of his teeth were missing and he was bald save for a ring of gray hair that circled the bottom of his head. From the state of his tattered brown robes, he obviously made _just _enough to get by.

The customer spoke again," My brother and I are out on a little camping trip. We left our stuff sitting outside. Some poor old muggle we met along the way told us to be careful about coming up here. Said there were some really strange people that lived in a village in these hills. I guess he was just talking about the wizards that live near here.

" Mmm hmm," the bar tender grunted again, he had finally found the glasses and was beginning to fill them with beer from the tap.

" He told us that lately though, some folk even stranger than normal had moved to the village. Wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you. You know, dangerous times we live in. It would be good to keep safe you know."

" Let's see," the barkeep said, setting the glasses down on the table, " poor old thing could have just been bein' paranoid but uh-"

**Bang!** There was a scarlet flash of light and the man staggered backwards a few feet, tripping over a small box and the wand he had been hiding flew out of his hand and across the room. The man who had been sitting at the table came running to his comrade.

"You alright there James," said the man who had been at the table. He noticed the look of alarm, not panic but alarm in his friends eyes covered by round glasses.

" Yeah," James replied, " bloke almost got me. Thanks for that one Sirius." James marveled at the way his friend wore a grin on his face even at that moment. Sirius was just like that. Even in some of the most critical moments he remained his normal relaxed, cheery self. Not that he didn't take the situation seriously though.

" I could see him drawing his wand from the angle I was sitting at," Sirius said, " Poor idiot never had a chance."

The barkeep scuttled towards the door but James was to fast for him. With a quick point of his wand, the door was magically locked. The barman's only exit had been shut off. He rested his back against the door an sat there terrified, waiting for the two wizards to do their worst. Both of them were coming towards him with their wands pointed directly at his heart.

" Alright hot shot," James said, "Obviously you have us figured out and we have you figured out too. So tell us what you know, and don't try to lie either because like I said, we have you figured out. What do you know about the Shades Of Death?"

" Okay, okay," the terrified man croaked, " They were here a few days ago. I overheard them talking about hiding something for their master. They paid me a large sum to keep quite and to keep a lookout for people trying to find them. They said they would come back and check in on me in a few days to make sure I was doing my job."

" Their master," Sirius barked, " who did they say their master was?"

" HIM, The Dark Lord, " the old man cried in terror, " He is their master."

" And what were they hiding," James inquired.

" They didn't say, only said that it was very important that it was hidden. Actually, I think their hiding more than one thing."

" Tell us where they are hiding out at, then we will modify your memory and let you go free," Sirius told the man.

" They're in the village up in the hills, follow the dirt road and take the first left you come to. That will take you straight to the village. They said if I needed to contact them they would be at a building called-"

Just then there was a noise like a gunshot. James and Sirius turned around and saw a figure in a hooded black robe with a metal mask painted with the face of a green demon, he had his wand pointed at them. The two of them dove in opposite directions out of the line of fire and the hooded man bellowed in a deep voice, " _Cardio Ceasius"._

There was a noise like someone being shocked by an electric fence and the old man slumped over dead. Sirius and James jumped up for a counter attack but they were too late. The dark wizard had disapparated.

" Damn," Sirius said under his breath, " Well at least we know they're in the village."

" Yeah," James replied, " Did you here that incantation? Cardio Ceasius, that's definitely not the killing curse we're used to seeing. From the sound of that incantation, it sounds like it stops your heart.

" Must be a spell of their own," Sirius said, " Bet they've made it harder to track than the Avada Kedavra curse."

" Probably," James muttered. He knew what he was getting into when he accepted this mission but he had no idea the Shades Of Death would be that dangerous. Who knew what other custom spells they had in their arsenal. James could still remember Dumbledore's words as he briefed him on this mission: _" James, I have selected you and Mr. Black to carry out a very important task for the Order Of The Phoenix. You see, for quite some time I have had the Prewett brothers Gideon and Fabian tracking an elite group of Death Eaters known as the Shades Of Death. Alas the poor Prewetts were lost in service on that very assignment. However they managed to take down five of the Shades and according to a journal found in Fabian's coat pocket after we found the bodies, there were ten Shades Of Death to begin with. So now there are only five which is good news. However there is an entry in the journal that disturbs me. Apparently the Shades Of Death are in possession of some powerful weapon crafted by Lord Voldemort himself. The journal states that one of the Shades said this weapon was one of the Dark Lord's most valuable assets. Oddly enough the Shades did not seem to be as interested in using the weapon as they were hiding it. This is where you and Sirius come in. I want the two of you to finish the Prewetts' work. Find the Shades Of Death and find out what kind of weapon they have. Bring it back with you if you can and destroy it if at all possible. Otherwise, just find out what it is they plan to hide. Our sources say that they were last headed towards a small range of hills at the base of the Donegal Mountains in Ireland. Now make haste, time is of the essence.". _These words still rang clear in the mind of James Potter. He remembered the look of genuine worry on Dumbledore's face, Albus Dumbledore was actually worried. That was not something you saw too often. At least, he didn't show it very often. James felt honored that he had been selected for this mission.

" Hey Prongs," the voice of Sirius brought James back to reality, " Come on we best get going if we plan on getting to that village tonight."

" Right," James replied, " Let's get moving.".

And with that, the two comrades unmagicked the door and stepped out into the night. Picking up their packs that had been sitting outside the door to avoid attracting too much attention to themselves, they set off into the forest. Neither one of them had any idea of the danger that waited for them.

R&R Please!


	2. Soldiers of Fortune

-1The Horsey presents chapter Two of The Weapon

"Muggle disguises seem to be doing the trick ey' Prongs," Sirius said to his companion, "Uh, Prongs?"

"Oh, yeah," James answered, "Yeah, trench coats. They're not too different from robes either."

"Alright Prongs, what's eating you?" Sirius asked," You've been almost completely quite ever since we left that bar. Not feeling sorry for that old man are you?"

" No, that's not it. It's actually the spell they used to kill the old man with. You know they're bound to have other spells, possibly more deadly than that, that they've crafted themselves. I knew this was going to be dangerous but a heart stopping curse? Dear lord, as if that flashing green wasn't enough to ferry you across the River Styx."

"I know what you mean mate," Sirius replied, a little more solemnly, "But there's no since worrying about that now. It won't amount to anything."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Hey look, I can see the village up on that hill."

Surely enough, up on a hill in the distance glowing windows of houses could be seen. The village looked like it was about two miles away from them. The two wizards had been on the winding forest road for around two hours now and they were beginning to tire, as they had been making their way towards these hills since the wee hours of the morning. They would be glad to reach the town but they weren't completely sure that they would make it there that night.

"Sirius," James said, "I think that maybe we should just stop when we find that fork in the road the barkeep mentioned. We're both exhausted and besides it'll look kind of strange walking into a small village at midnight."

"I couldn't agree more dear prongs.' Sirius replied cheerily," Dear lord, we've been walking in the dark for nearly two hours with only the moon to guide us. What say we shed some light on the situation?"

Sirius pulled his wand from inside his coat and first, with a lazy flick he produced a walking stick from thin air. Then he held his wand aloft and muttered "_Lumos". _A beam of light then sprang forth from the wand.

" Much better, wouldn't you say old pall," he said.

" Yeah but maybe we should keep our wands ready for combat.," James said," You know, just in case."

Sirius grinned," I believe you are right."

He put the light on his wand out but held his walking stick aloft and pointed his wand at it. _"Incendio," _he said.

" There we go," he said, pointing at his walking stick that he had set ablaze to act as a torch," now we get the best of both worlds.

The two friends walked along for a few more minutes in the light and warmth of Sirius's torch. They talked of how things might be back home and what the rest of the Order may be doing. All the while they kept a sharp watch on their surroundings. At last they reached a small clearing where the road forked off.

" Well," said James, " looks like this is home for the night. We best get a fire going."

This time it was James who conjured up firewood from the air. He then used the same spell Sirius had used on his walking stick, to catch fire to the neat pile of logs that lay just where the road split into.

"Don't know about you mate," Sirius said, producing a silver knife, a skillet, a pot, some carrots, and two large steaks," But I'm a bit hungry."

" I was hoping you'd say that," James said and smiled.

Sirius began to chop the carrots with the silver knife and bewitched the skillet to float above the fire so that the steaks could cook. Meanwhile, James produced a second fire to put the pot over. He magically filled it with water and bewitched it to float over the fire just as Sirius had done to the skillet. After the carrots were chopped they were added to the pot of boiling water and the clearing was filled with the smell of cooking meat an vegetables.

When the food was done, Sirius and James had the best conversation they had enjoyed in a while. They joked and talked of Quidditch and of their old school days. It was a refreshing change from the grimness that seemed to hang over the world these days and you would never had known these two were on a life threatening mission. They both had some pumpkin juice they had been storing in their bags and were almost ready to go to sleep. However, this pleasantness was about to be halted.

"_Stupefy!", _a high pitched voice screamed into the night. A red beam of light came straight for the back of Sirius's head but James, who had been facing Sirius, pushed him to the side and knocked the spell aside with a flick of his wand.

Two men came bounding from the trees and towards James and Sirius with wands drawn and ready for battle. One of them was a tall, thin man with dirty blond hair. He wore a pair of black pants and a dark blue jacket with a white shirt underneath. The other man was just as thin as the other but a little shorter and with messy brown hair. He appeared a bit sickly and pale and wore a pair of ripped and frayed khaki pants with an oversized tweed shirt. Clearly these two had given up their robes for something more suited to combat.

Sirius leapt up and attacked the taller man with a stunner spell of his own. The man was stricken on the left arm but quickly recovered and fired a stinging hex at Sirius. Sirius felt a great pain on his chest and began to stumble backwards over a bank and into another slightly smaller clearing which was surrounded all the way round by a thick ring of trees. The tall man leapt over the bank in pursuit of his target.

Meanwhile James had been locked in battle with the sickly man. His small stature was no reflection on the way he fought, he fired stunner after stunner at James who had hardly any time to launch a counterattack. This man was out to win no matter what it took.

" There has to be some way to get the little bastard. ," thought James, " But where is my opening? What can I hit him with in enough time between his stunners?"

James watched his opponent carefully. He noticed how this little freak put all of his emphasis on his spells. He was good, very good. But his style had a major flaw. He was about to go down and had no idea about it.

James lured his opponent into the center of the clearing at the split in the road where the fire was. The fire, yes, this was James saving grace. " Gotcha," James thought," I have my opening."

James jumped backwards over the fire so that his opponent was positioned on the other side of the fire. With a quick sweep of his wand he sent the logs flying into his enemy's legs. One of the logs caught him right on the forehead. Placing his opponent under a jelly legs jinx, James began an interrogation.

" Who are you and who do you work for," James said roughly, " Tell me now!"

" My partner and I are working for the Shades Of Death.," the man said, " We are not Shades ourselves but mercenaries hired by them."

" You give information so easily.," James said," You're not scared are you?"

" Of course not you fool," the man said, the high pitched voice they had heard was his," You have no idea what I am capable of. Your arrogance will be your bane."

A wicked smile crept across the man's face as he gazed up into the sky. Suddenly his eyes flashed red ad James was horror stricken at what he had neglected to notice. This man was a werewolf! How had he not noticed the signs? The man quickly changed shape into his humanoid wolf state and James was thrown to the ground by the creature's gigantic paws.

What was he to do? When dealing with Lupin's transformations his stag form was enough to keep the wolf at bay for a while. But he had to defeat this one, not hold it off for a while. He fired stunners but they had no effect. The wolf came charging at him but James was to fast. He pointed his wand at a tree and with and yelled,"_ Reducto!", _sending the trunk crashing to the ground and landing just in front of the creature stopping it in its tracks for a few seconds.

Glancing around for something to help him out, James noticed the knife they had used to slice the carrots. The _silver_ knife. He leapt for the weapon and came up just in time to see the wolf coming at him again. He yelled the first spell that came to mind,"_ Incendio!"._ A fireball was shot from his wand and straight into his opponent's face. The fur around the beast's nose caught fire, this bought James all the time he needed.

The courageous wizard lunged for the werewolf with knife in had and slashed downwards for the heart. The creature managed to avoid the fatal blow but his arm was nearly severed by the blade. He screeched in pain and soon the great silhouette of the werewolf was reduced to that of a cowering man with burns all over his face and a severely bleeding arm.

" NO," the mercenary screamed in his high pitched voice," I cant lose!".

He found his wand and yelled, _"Accio knife!". _He caught the knife in his left hand and raised it high above his head. The man took his final breath and the blade sunk its cruel fangs into the poor wretch's throat.

James would have been a bit more disgusted at the sight but he had just realized that Sirius was gone along with the other attacker. James's heart pounded violently. He did not know where hi friend had gone. Was he dead? Had he been overtaken and kidnapped? James had no idea as to how he could have been so stupid to let Sirius out of his sight. Down over the hill he thought he heard raised voices. He ran for the bank to investigate.

Sirius had just landed in the next clearing over from where James was fighting the other attacker and saw the tall man leap over into the clearing, firing a jet of green light at Sirius. However, Sirius managed to roll out of the way unharmed.

" Come on now," taunted Sirius," You have to have something better than that.".

" You are mine," the tall man yelled at Sirius.

" How Original," Sirius fired back.

The man did not like this. He fired another another killing curse at Sirius just as Sirius fired a stunner at him. The two beams met in midair and each rebounded towards its caster.

Both of them managed to dodge their own spells and they soon found themselves in a fierce melee of assorted spells being thrown at one another. Sirius would launch a disarming spell only to have it deflected by his enemy. The mercenary would send a fire ball flying only to have it deflected by Sirius. For ten minutes this went on, the two mortal enemies locked in a twirling pirouette of death. Sirius hated the mercenary. He did not know him but he didn't have too. He had lured him away from his friend. He had forced Sirius back into this damned clearing and now he could not help James if need be. He reminded him of that cursed house where he had grown up. Death Eaters always reminded Sirius of that house and because of that, he despised every last one of them. The Noble House Of Black they called it. Bah! The most noble thing that house could do would be to burn to the ground. Sirius's hate swelled up inside him until his entire body burned. He had tried so desperately to forget that house but he couldn't, not with Death Eaters roaming around the world. The only way he would have peace was if they were all eliminated.Unleashing all of his hatred Sirius pointed his wand at his opponent and yelled, "_STUPEFY_

The red jet of light was much larger than usual and it struck with much more force. It caught the man in the chest and lifted him off the ground, sending him flying from the center of the clearing back through the ring of trees and back up the bank. Sirius ran after his quarry, back towards his brother in arms.

James was just about to descend the hill to find Sirius when a body came flying through the air and crashed into a tree with so much force the trunk split. James was horrified. Was that Sirius? A man was walking up the bank.

"Stop and toss me your wand," James yelled pointing his wand at the shadow.

"Easy Prongs, it's me," came the voice of Sirius.

James felt a warm wave of relief spread throughout his body as his long time friend came into his field of vision.

"Sirius," James said, "I thought for sure that was you on the ground there"

"No ," Sirius said, "That was the nimrod who trapped me in that other clearing down the hill. Guess I showed him. Bet he's unconscious, eh'?"

"Sirius from the force he hit that tree with he's probably dead. What did you hit him with?"

"A stunner. Probably the strongest I've ever produced."

"I'll say. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Who were these guys anyway," Sirius said, spying the body of the other man lying in the distance behind James.

"Mercenaries hired by the shades," James answered.

"Well let's bury the bodies and get to sleep," Sirius said warily, "I've had about enough of these soldiers of fortune."

R&R please.


End file.
